Men's Cross Country Places Fifth at Nationals
November 19, 2007 | Men's Cross Country
The No. 5 Wisconsin's men's cross country team placed fifth at the 2007 NCAA Championships Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Badgers scored 239 points to finish 154 points behind champion Oregon. The No. 1 ranked Ducks won in convincing fashion by 85 points. No. 3 Iona finished second with 113 points.
Josh McDougal of Liberty captured the individual title, covering the 10,000-meter course in 29 minutes and 22 seconds to narrowly edge Oregon's Galen Rupp, who finished only a step behind in 29:23.
Junior Matt Withrow led the way for Wisconsin, finishing 17th overall in 30:09.
Junior Stu Eagon crossed the line next for the Badgers, finshing 40th in 30:37. With their finishes, Withrow and Eagon earned All-American honors for the third consecutive season.
Freshman Landon Peacock and sophomore Andrew Lacy placed 74th and 80th, respectively, finishing in times of 30:57 and 31:00.
Junior Christian Wagner rounded out the scoring for the Badgers, crossing the finish line in 31:04 to finish 89th.
Also running for UW were sophomore Brandon Bethke and freshman Jack Bolas, who placed 98th and 176th, respectively, in times of 31:07 and 31:43.
With all seven of their top runners returning next season, the Badgers will be looking to once again return to the top of the awards stand.
Under Schumacher the Badgers have never finished lower than sixth at the NCAA meet and have finished second five times'1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006'along with a national championship in 2005.
